Sealant-containing tires such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-323875, where a sealant chamber at least partially defined by a liner is formed at an inner surface of a tread of a tire body so that punctures in the tread caused by nails etc. are automatically sealed by sealant contained within the sealant chamber so as to delay the leaking of air from the puncture are well known.
FIG. 3 shows the situation for a related sealant-containing tire when a puncture caused by a nail etc. penetrates a tread 4, sealant chamber 7 and liner 3 so as to reach an air chamber 8. Because the rubber of the tread 4 is hard, after the nail etc. is removed, little contraction (refer to the arrows) of the puncture 41 due to the elasticity of the rubber is anticipated. Contraction of a puncture 31 (refer to the arrows) after removal of the nail etc. is also slight because the rubber of the liner 3 in related sealant-containing tires is relatively hard. Air within the air chamber 8 therefore flows to the outside in a forceful manner through the puncture 31 in the liner 3 and the puncture 41 in the tread 4 and repair of the puncture 41 in the tread 4 by the sealant 6 with which the sealant chamber 7 is filled can therefore not be carried out in an effective manner.